What’s Next For Paul Allen’s Big Investments? It’s Not Clear
SEATTLE — Before he died Monday, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen invested large sums in technology ventures, research projects and philanthropy, some of it eclectic and highly speculative. What happens to those commitments now? Outside of bland assurances from his investment company, no one seems quite sure. Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to his company Vulcan Inc. He was 65. He never married and had no children, and details of his estate aren’t known. Forbes recently estimated Allen’s net worth at $20.3 billion.
China Is Funding The Future Of American Biotech - Techcrunch
Silicon Valley is in the midst of a health craze, and it is being driven by "Eastern" medicine. It's been a record year for US medical investing, but investors in Beijing and Shanghai are now increasingly leading the largest deals for US life science and biotech companies. In fact, Chinese venture firms have invested more this [...]
Future Family Lands $10M In Series A
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Company making world-class fertility care accessible to women and couples nationwide, has raised $10M in Series A funding led by Aspect Ventures.
Vector Secures Additional $70M In Series B
TUCSON, AZ, Vector has secured $70M in a Series B funding round led by Kodem Growth Partners.
Qualtrics Files S-1 For Ipo
Qualtrics, a Utah-based startup, filed to go public on Friday. The startup, which is backed by venture capital firms Sequoia and Accel, was last valued at $2.5 billion. The IPO is being led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Qualtrics, a Provo, Utah-based startuped that sells "experience management" software, has filed to go public. The company will list on the NASDAQ under the ticker "XM" -- a reference to the type of software it sells.
Plaid Is Raising Funding At A $2B Valuation
The fintech company Plaid is holding talks with potential investors about raising money at a valuation of $2 billion or more. The funding round is still in early stages, and a deal with investors has yet to be finalized, according to sources. Plaid, a fintech company whose software is used by Silicon Valley heavyweights like Betterment, Coinbase, and Robinhood, is holding talks with potential investors about raising money that could value the firm at more than $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Xconomy: Boston Tech Watch: Ibm, Dataxu, Accion, Yottaa, Coachup & More
[Updated 10/19/18, 5:08 pm. See below.] Rumors of a Boston adtech sale, a top-level departure at IBM's Watson Health business, more cash to boost A.I. startups, and Boeing backing a space propulsion company dominate the Boston-area's tech headlines from the week. Read on for more. --Boston firm DataXu is working with a New York investment [...]
Spacex Competitor Vector Raises $70M To Build More Rockets
SpaceX competitor Vector raised $70 million to build more rockets. The company plans to launch its first Vector R rocket into space by the end of the year.
Institutions Adopt Cryptocurrencies, Cftc Warns On Smart Contracts, "crypto-sweep" Continues | Bakerhostetler
Cryptocurrency Capital Markets Announcements by Institutional and Startup Firms - On Oct. 15, a major global financial services firm - the fourth-largest asset management firm in the world - announced plans to spin off a new company focused on making...By: BakerHostetler.
Crypto Startup Dydx Lets You 'short' Ethereum, Raises $10M
A startup called dYdX has raised $10 million in funding from investors to develop financial software that allows people to borrow money from one another without using a broker. The five-person company developed a margin trading protocol based on the computing network Ethereum. It aims to allow people to create new cryptocurrency-related financial products, like interest-generating loans, short sells, or leveraged long positions. Unlike the world of traditional finance, the technology requires no broker to act as a trusted intermediary. "Decentralized finance will be first real application of blockchain technology," said Antonio Juliano, dYdX's founder, on a call with Fortune.